The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes.
We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

Thursday, August 22, 2002

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Family members tend not to like the way each other smell, researchers say, speculating that the unpleasant stink of your closest relatives may be one of nature's ways of discouraging incest.

In research described on Thursday in Britain's New Scientist magazine, a team at Wayne State University in Detroit recruited 25 families with children aged between six and 15, and gave them T-shirts to sleep in and odorless soap to wash with.

They were told to keep the T-shirts in plastic bags. They were later asked to sniff two T-shirts, one worn by a family member and another worn by a stranger.

The researchers first tested whether family members could recognize each other.

They found that mothers and fathers could usually tell when they were smelling their pre-adolescent children, with mothers being slightly better at it than dads, but they could not say which child was which.

Children younger than nine -- with the notable exception of sons who had been breastfed -- generally could not recognise their mothers, while older children could. All the children recognised their fathers.

Interestingly, whether or not they recognized which T-shirt belonged to a family member, volunteers usually said they far preferred the smell of the stranger's shirt.

Mothers particularly did not like the smell of their children, and children had a strong aversion to the smell of their fathers. Children of the same sex were not offended by each other's smell, but children of opposite sex were.

Researcher Tiffany Czilli said that she believed the dislike of each other's odors was part of nature's way of preventing incest, by making people less appealing to their closest relatives.

Other family issues could be at work too: the particular aversion that children have to the smell of dad could also be a sign of children trying to grow up and be independent.

But Dustin Penn of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City warned that asking people about their preferences could be unreliable.

"Just because people say they 'prefer' something doesn't mean they'll act in a preferential way," he said.

1964 graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine at
Yeshiva University

Dr. Howard Berens, a Newton psychiatrist on staff at Newton-Wellesley
Hospital, has had his medical license suspended by the Board of
Registration in Medicine for having a sexual relationship with a
patient.

Newton psychiatrist Howard R. Berens
had his license suspended on charges of having an affair with a woman
paying him for marriage counseling; and Dr. Robert P. Cipro, an ear,
nose and throat specialist in North Andover, had his license suspended
on charges of engaging in a sexual relationship with a patient.

[CORRECTION - DATE: Friday, August 23, 2002: * CORRECTION: BECAUSE OF A
REPORTING ERROR, A STORY IN YESTERDAY'S CITY & REGION SECTION ABOUT
MEDICAL DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS INCORRECTLY DESCRIBED THE ACTION CONCERNING
NEWTON PSYCHIATRIST HOWARD R. BERENS.
BERENS HAD HIS MEDICAL LICENSE SUSPENDED FOR HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH A
FORMER PATIENT. STATE OFFICIALS STAYED THE SUSPENSION, ALLOWING BERENS
TO CONTINUE TO PRACTICE.)

Dr. Howard Berens, a Newton psychiatrist on staff at Newton-Wellesley
Hospital, has had his medical license suspended by the Board of
Registration in Medicine for having a sexual relationship with a
patient.

Berens cannot practice medicine in Massachusetts for three years. The
Board found Berens engaged in "conduct that undermines the public
confidence in the integrity of the medical profession by engaging in a
sexual relationship and other boundary violations with a patient."

Berens began seeing a patient in February 1998 and engaged in a
sexual relationship with the patient outside the office in April 1998,
according to the Board's report.

Berens, a 1964 graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine at
Yeshiva University, has been licensed to practice medicine in
Massachusetts since July 1967.

In a separate matter, a surgeon who abandoned a patient on the
operating table at Mount Auburn Hospital has been disciplined by the
Board of Registration for a separate incident.

The board voted to reprimand Dr. David C. Arndt, also on staff at
Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and ordered him to complete 100 hours of
community service in connection with a conviction on a charge of filing a
false affidavit to help his gay lover stay illegally in the country.

Arndt, who was charged in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, pleaded
guilty to the charge in 1998, and was sentenced to three years'
probation and fined $3,000.

On Aug. 7, the state Board of Medicine suspended Arndt for leaving a
spinal fusion operation at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge on July
10. The patient, Charles Algeri, 45, of Waltham, was under anesthesia
and with an incision in his back at the time.

Arndt is appealing the summary suspension. Arndt was suspended by the hospital the day after the operation.

Arndt, 41, a 1992 graduate of Harvard Medical School, has said he
regrets his actions and was in "a financial crisis," and had to pay
overdue bills.

FAIR USE NOTICESome
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authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available
in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political,
human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice
issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on
this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use
copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go
beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Aug 20, 2002 Westchester County Department of Public Safety NYS Division of Parole- Quality Control

Conviction Charges:

(Please note: a conviction for an attempt is generally punishable at one grade below the classification of the crime attempted, i.e., a rape 2nd degree is punishable as a class D felony while an attempted rape 2nd degree is punishable as a class E felony.)

Title Section Subsection Class Category Degree Description

PL 263.10 D F 0 Promoting Obscene Sexual Performance By A Child Less Than 16 Years Old

The legal dates posted on this site are the dates which were reported at the time of registration and are subject to change. The conditions of supervision are subject to change during the supervision period. The special conditions of release do not apply past the maximum expiration date of sentence because the offender is no longer under supervision by the listed supervising agency for this crime.

Feb 28, 2005

Scars, Marks & Tattoos:

Description

Scar-Arm, right

Additional Names/Aliases:

Last Name First Name Middle Name

SHERBERG YERACHIEL

STEIN ROBERT

College Info:

Employed/Attend Name Street City State Zip

Employer Info:

Status Street City State Zip

Vehicles:

Lic. Plate No. State Vehicle Year Make/Model Color

BKW8181 NY 1995 Chevrolet Lumina Gray

Special Conditions:

Special Conditions: Seek, Obtain, Maintain Employment, No contact with children under 18 years of age unless in the company of an adult who is at least 21 years of age and with permission of supervisor, Participate in sex offender treatment program, Participate in an academic or vocational program, Curfew, Order of protection, No computer in home.

Offense Description & Modus Operandi:

Offense Description:

Actual, More Than Once Deviate Sexual Intercourse

Actual, More Than Once Sexual Contact

Actual, More Than Once Promoting/Possessing Sexual Performance by a Child

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Sunday, August 18, 2002

Sexual abuse includes a wide range of sexual activities that are forced upon someone. People with mental retardation are often unable to choose to stop abuse due to a lack of understanding of what is happening during abuse, the extreme pressure to acquiesce out of fear, a need of acceptance from the abuser or having a dependent relationship with the abuser. Sexual abuse consists of sexually inappropriate and non-consensual actions, such as exposure to sexual materials (such as pornography), the use of inappropriate sexual remarks/language, not respecting the privacy (physical boundaries) of a child or individual (e.g., walking in on someone while dressing or in the bathroom), fondling, exhibitionism, oral sex and forced sexual intercourse (rape).

How often are people with mental retardation sexually abused?

According to research, most people with disabilities will experience some form of sexual assault or abuse (Sobsey & Varnhagen, 1989). The rate of sexual victimization in the general population is alarming, yet largely goes unnoticed. At least 20 percent of females and 5 to 10 percent of males are sexually abused every year in the U.S. Although these figures are disturbingly high, people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities are at an even greater risk of sexual victimization. Victims who have some level of intellectual impairment are at the highest risk of abuse (Sobsey & Doe, 1991).

More than 90 percent of people with developmental disabilities will experience sexual abuse at some point in their lives. Forty-nine percent will experience 10 or more abusive incidents (Valenti-Hein & Schwartz, 1995). Other studies suggest that 39 to 68 percent of girls and 16 to 30 percent of boys will be sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. The likelihood of rape is staggering: 15,000 to 19,000 of people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in the United States (Sobsey, 1994).

Why is sexual abuse so common among people with mental retardation?

People with mental retardation may not realize that sexual abuse is abusive, unusual or illegal. Consequently, they may never tell anyone about sexually abusive situations. People with and without disabilities are often fearful to openly talk about such painful experiences due to the risk of not being believed or taken seriously. They typically learn not to question caregivers or others in authority. Sadly, these authority figures are often the ones committing the abuse. Many special education programs have encouraged students to be compliant in a wide range of life activities, ultimately increasing the child's vulnerability to abuse (Turnbull, et.al., 1994). They often think they have no right to refuse sexually abusive treatment and are not taught risk reduction skills. Risk factors associated with sexual abuse include social powerlessness, communication skill deficits, impaired judgment, family isolation/stress and living arrangements that increase vulnerability.

*Adapted from Violence and Abuse in the Lives of People with Disabilities

(1994), D. Sobsey.

What are the effects of sexual abuse?

Sexual abuse causes harmful psychological, physical and behavioral effects (see above chart). Individuals who experience long-term (chronic) abuse by a known, trusted adult at an early age suffer more severe damage compared to those whose abuse is perpetrated by someone not well known to the victim, begins later in life, and is less frequent and nonviolent (Tower, 1989).

Regardless of the circumstances surrounding sexual abuse (e.g., length of time it occurred, who the abuser is and the victim's age), all forms of sexual abuse are serious and have the potential to be very damaging to the individual if left unaddressed and unspoken.

Who is most likely to abuse?

As is the case for people without disabilities who experience sexual abuse, those most likely to abuse are those who are known by the victim, such as family members, acquaintances, residential care staff, transportation providers and personal care attendants. Research suggests that 97 to 99 percent of abusers are known and trusted by the victim who has developmental

disabilities (Baladerian, 1991).

While in 32 percent of cases, abusers were family members or acquaintances, 44 percent had a relationship with the victim specifically related to the person's disability (such as residential care staff, transportation providers and personal care attendants). Therefore, the delivery system created to meet specialized care needs of those with mental retardation contributes to the risk of sexual abuse.

What type of treatment or therapy is available for victims of sexual abuse?

People with developmental disabilities who have been sexually abused typically are not provided a way to "work through" or talk about their traumatic experiences in a treatment or therapeutic setting. Generally, the more severe the disability, the greater the difficulty in accessing services. This may be due to prejudices some people still have about people with disabilities. For example, the benefit of psychotherapy for people with mental retardation is questioned, as well as the impact of the abuse (whether or not abuse impacts people with mental retardation as strongly as others without disabilities).

Yet, all people who experience sexual abuse are affected and can benefit from therapeutic counseling, even if they are non-verbal. Children and adults who suffer abuse need to learn how to tell someone and who to tell. A variety of training techniques that teach self-defense, body integrity, prevention and

reporting should be used. Human service workers must understand that people with developmental disabilities can and do benefit from therapy.

Locating a qualified therapist may be difficult since the person should be trained in both child/adult sexual abuse, as well as disabilities and sexuality. Payment for the therapy can be obtained through victim witness programs, community mental health centers or developmental disability centers.

How can the incidence of sexual abuse of people with mental retardation be reduced?

Society has been slow to admit that sexual abuse of people with mental retardation is not only possible, but actually happening (Baladerian, 1992).

The first step in reducing the occurrence of sexual abuse is recognizing the magnitude of the problem and confronting the ugly truth that people with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities are more vulnerable to sexual victimization than those without disabilities.

Abusers typically abuse as many as 70 people before ever getting caught. Without reporting, there can be no prosecution of offenders or treatment for victims. Underreporting of sexual abusive incidents involving people with disabilities has in the past, and continues to be, a major obstacle in preventing sexual abuse.

Only three percent of sexual abuse cases involving people with developmental disabilities will ever be reported (Valenti-Hein & Schwartz, 1995). Few people ever disclose sexual abuse for a variety of understandable reasons. However, such non-disclosure promotes an environment ripe for continued victimization.

Reporting can be increased through educating individuals with disabilities and service providers, improving investigation and prosecution, creating a safe environment that allows victims to disclose and, finally, employment policies must change to increase safety. For example, background checks on new employees should be conducted on a routine basis; and those with criminal records should be reported to the police, rather than firing the suspected abuser. Otherwise the individual will more than likely continue abusing others while working for future employers.

What should I do if I suspect sexual abuse?

All states have laws requiring professionals, such as institutional care providers, police officers and teachers to report abuse. All states allow the general public to report abuse as well. If you suspect a child is being sexually abused, contact your local child protective agency. If the person is an adult, contact adult protective services. These are also referred to as "Social Services," "Human Services" or "Children and Family Services" in the phone book. You do not need proof to file a report. If you believe the person is in immediate danger, call the police. After a report is made, the incident is referred for investigation to the state social service agency (who handles civil investigations) or to the local law enforcement agency (who handles criminal investigations).

Convicted of sexual assault of a fifteen-year-old girl with two of his friends. Lewis is an award-winning Wimbledon tennis coach. Police were unable to charge the other men because they only discovered their identities 12 months after the alleged offences. In England, unlawful sexual intercourse cases the suspect has to be charged within a year of the offence. Lewis refused to name either man during police interview.

Lewis, of Edgware, north London, admitted two charges of having sex with the underage girl in early 2003 and was convicted of a third similar charge before Christmas 2002.

There are several people who go by the name Marc Lewis. The individual discussed on this page was born around 1978 in Great Britain.

With Wimbledon getting into full swing and the nation gripped by Henmania one group of girls are already basking in the glory of tennis success.

The U17 girls' team at Temple Fortune Tennis Club are preparing to represent Middlesex after scooping the county's Premier Division following one of the most closely-contested National Junior Club Leagues for years.

Needing to win their final two matches, Temple Fortune beat Westway, on the deciding doubles, and Riverside Chiswick, in a dramatic tie-break shoot-out.

The girls now go forward to play in a south-east championship against the likes of Surrey, Sussex and Kent.

All aged 16 and under, the team of Nancy Cowley, Ellie Davies, Chantele Duarte, Chloe Foster, Nadia Hammoud, Sasha Myers, and Rachael Thomas have represented Middlesex at various age groups with number one seed Cowley, 16, ranked among the county's top three players.

She said: "We really came together as a team and it is so pleasing to have won the league. The next round of the competition will be tough but it will also be quite fun at the same time."

Nancy, who lives in Tufnell Park, would have entered this year's Wimbledon competition but for the qualifiers clashing with one of her GCSE exams. Fellow team member Rachael Thomas, 16, recently jetted off to America to spend two weeks at the Nick Bolleteri Tennis Academy in Florida.

Marc Lewis, who coaches the girls, was delighted with the progress they have made this year. And he is confident that he will have some of his protegees at Wimbledon next year.

He said: "They all play to a very high county level and four of the seven girls have played at regional and national level.

"I've got such a good crop of youngsters that I will definitely have three or four competing at Wimbledon next season."

Maccabi GB said this week that it severed ties with tennis coach Marc Lewis — who was recently jailed for a sex offence — after he had coached juniors at the 1999 European Maccabi games.

The statement from the Jewish sports organisation, in reply to a series of questions from the JC, also said its Junior Tennis Committee had been told "to have no further involvement with Mr Lewis as a Maccabi tennis coach" after the games.

Maccabi said that the decision to discontinue its association with the coach came as part of an overall review of "all coaches and management" following the games, which were held in Scotland. The review, it said, had been part of its "commitment to best practice and the welfare of its [the games'] participants."

The statement did not specify why the action against Mr Lewis was taken, nor whether other coaches had been similarly sanctioned. It added, however, that "Maccabi GB was not aware of any formal complaints about Mr Lewis coaching junior players at the time."

Other Maccabi tennis sources have told the JC that there was disquiet over the fact that Mr Lewis, who was in charge of younger players, spent time during the games socialising with older juniors.

Last month, Lewis was jailed for four-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey for having illicit sex with a 15-year-old pupil and then sharing her with two friends.

When Lewis, then a teenage player, was not chosen for a Maccabi tennis squad to travel to America, he made an abusive telephone call to a senior tennis official in the organisation, John Barnett, who formally complained to the police.

Before the 1999 games, Mr Barnett reportedly reminded Maccabi colleagues of the incident and argued that the young man's "behavioural problems" made it inappropriate for him to be placed in charge of coaching juniors at the Scotland event.

This week's Maccabi GB statement came as the Lawn Tennis Association's child-protection officer, Mark Williams-Thomas, began an internal LTA review of the Lewis case.

As reported in the JC last month, a North-West London tennis club, at which Lewis had briefly worked, warned another club, as well as Middlesex county tennis officials, about his practice of sitting young pupils on his lap.

Mr Williams-Thomas declined to go into detail about the progress of the LTA probe, saying this week: "The investigation is under way and is in its early stages.

"I need to talk to all the clubs involved. I have made contact with some of the clubs, and I intend to see them all in due course," he told the JC.

Marc Lewis aged 26 from Edgware was cleared at the Central Criminal Court of raping a 15-year-old girl, but had already pleaded guilty to two charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with another 15-year-old girl. He remains on bail and is awaiting sentancing.

A tennis coach raped a former pupil after plying her with alcohol and luring her back to his flat, the Old Bailey heard today.

Marc Lewis, 26, had been trusted for several years by the parents of the 15-year-old, the jury was told.

She had been a successful schools and county player but stopped playing a year before the attack, the court heard.

Lewis found out that she had quarrelled with her parents and left home, so he rang her mobile phone. They arranged a meeting in August 2002, when he took her to a restaurant and allegedly spiked her drink with alcohol.

Then, on the pretext of watching a video with friends, he took her to his Edgware flat, said Nina Crinnion, prosecuting. But the flat was empty and he stripped and raped her. Lewis has pleaded not guilty to rape and told the police that he and the teenager had a row.

Ms Crinnion told the court that in 2002 the alleged victim had had a typical "teenage rebellion" and left home temporarily to stay with a friend.

"Lewis learned of these difficulties by speaking to people at a tennis tournament and decided that he would contact the girl," said Ms Crinnion. "He offered support and a chance to talk."

The girl welcomed the offer, but "alarm bells started ringing" when Lewis told her to dress up and asked if she could "get into bars".

Despite her fears, the girl agreed to meet Lewis at Golders Green Tube station. "But alarm bells started ringing again when Lewis started to embrace her. In her mind he held on a little bit too long, which made her feel uncomfortable," said Ms Crinnion. "Lewis took her to a restaurant and bought her drinks which the girl thought were non-alcoholic, but later on she realised, when she began to feel tipsy, that there must have been alcohol in them.

Ms Crinnion said that having hurried the girl through the meal, Lewis offered to take her to his home to watch a video with friends. She told the jury that the girl went along with the plan because she felt she had no option.

When they got there, the home was empty but Lewis said his friends would arrive soon. He sat next to her on the sofa, making her feel uncomfortable and began stroking her back.

She demanded he phone a cab, which he reluctantly did, but then came back to the sofa and forced her into sex.

He only stopped when he was interrupted by the taxi driver ringing the doorbell and the girl fled.

Lewis gave her two £20 notes "as a thank you for the evening, for the cab and credit for her mobile phone".

The girl reported the attack to the police but later withdrew her statement, saying she did not want to go ahead.

But the case was reopened and, in June last year, Lewis was arrested.

He told police that he had met the girl but denied plying her with alcohol. He said she wanted to go back to his home because she wanted to talk privately. Once there, an argument had broken out. He denied any sexual contact, said Ms Crinnion.

The teenage girl who claims she was raped by her former tennis coach broke down in tears on Wednesday while giving evidence.

Marc Lewis' alleged victim sobbed as she described, via video link, how the 26-year-old had a "sleazy" reputation.

The girl, now 17, said: "He didn't teach any boys, everybody thought this was quite weird. He was overly friendly and suggestive. He liked skinny blondes the typical model type. He was known as a womaniser."

Prosecutor Neena Crinnion told the court that Lewis rang the teenager and arranged to meet her at Golders Green tube station on 17 August 2002.

She said: "She was of the opinion that it was going to be a very casual thing. But alarm bells started to ring when he told her she ought to dress up and denim would not be allowed. He also asked her if she could get into bars."

After they arrived at the Governor restaurant and casino on Edgware Road, she was disturbed by the embrace Lewis gave her.

Crinnion said: "She felt he held on too long. He brought drink she thought it was non-alcoholic. But she realised there was alcohol in her Coke when she became tipsy."

The court heard that he hurried her through the meal before inviting her back to his house saying there would be a "lot of friends there".

Crinnion added: "She went along with that. She felt she had no option as he had not offered to get her a taxi to take her home. Alarm bells began ringing when they arrived and all the lights were off and no friends were there."

The jury was told that Lewis gave her an orange juice containing alcohol.

Lewis' alleged victim said: "I felt blurry because of the drink and sat on the sofa. I asked for a glass

of water. What he gave me tasted funny. He gave me an orange juice which had something white on top and I was worried. He kept lying back on the sofa and trying to get me to lie back with him. He kept pulling me back."

Bursting into tears, she continued: "He pulled me down and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I did not know what to do. I did not know where I was. I thought, why are you doing this to me? He pulled my clothes off. I had never done anything like this before. He pushed me on the ground.

"He lay on top of me and he was really heavy. I was frozen. I could not think. I was suffocating. I wanted to try and call someone but I knew they could not do anything. He did things to me and he made me do things to him. He made me speak to him. He said: "Oh you are so sexy.""

According to the girl, the taxi he had ordered for her then arrived and he handed her two £20 notes. She said: "He told me one is thanks for tonight. The other is for you to call me."

She also said that after returning home she had a bath and 15 showers and Lewis again tried to contact her.

An Edgware man cleared of raping a 15-year-old girl has admitted having a sexual relationship with another underage girl.

Marc Lewis, 26, of Farm Road, a former Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) young coach of the year, was found not guilty of attacking the 15-year-old after a champagne supper at a Cricklewood casino in August 2002.

He slumped in the dock at the Old Bailey on Friday last week and sobbed loudly as the jury returned the not guilty verdict.

But what the jury did not know was that Lewis had already admitted two charges of having underage sex with a different 15-year-old girl.

Lewis used to coach at the Temple Fortune Club in Bridge Lane, Golders Green, and had worked with some of the brightest young prospects in the game. Now his career lies in ruins and his coaching badge has been revoked by the LTA.

The girl who accused him of rape, now 17, had claimed Lewis attacked her after plying her with alcohol at a time when she was having family problems.

Lewis took her to the Grosvenor Casino in Edgware Road, Cricklewood, and gave her champagne before taking her back to his home in Edgware, where the girl said she was attacked.

Lewis admitted taking the girl to the casino was 'inappropriate' but denied any sexual contact with the girl. He said he did not think there had been anything wrong with taking her to his house, saying he thought he could help her with her family problems.

The girl went to the police the day after the alleged attack, only to withdraw her complaint days later. She claimed she had done so because she was scared Lewis would kill her, but the jury of six men and six women did not find her a credible witness.

The court heard that a medical examination of the girl revealed no evidence of intercourse or injuries consistent with her claim.

Police had reopened the case last summer when the allegations concerning a second girl came to light.

Lewis has admitted two charges of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the second girl and faces a further court hearing on June 11 when he could receive a prison sentence.

A junior tennis coach seduced one of his 15-year-old star pupils and encouraged her to have threesomes with two of his friends, an Old Bailey jury heard this week.

Speaking from behind a screen, the girl, now 17, told the court of her secret four-month affair with Marc Lewis, 26, culminating in the group sex sessions with two of his friends.

Neena Crinnion prosecuting said that after Lewis, a former Lawn Tennis Association national young coach of the year, invited the girl to enrol in one of his elite junior squads and asked her for her mobile telephone number.

The court heard the pair then met in Mill Hill in winter 2002 and Lewis took her to a meeting room at the tennis club where the girl agreed to sex after Lewis asked her, "Do you want to go for it?"

The girl said she was shocked by the proposal but added: "I didn't really want to spoil all the compliments he had given to me and how good he made me feel. I liked him."

Crinnion added: "On more than one occasion the defendant brought along a friend, once in a hotel when both men had sex with her and on another occasion to his home when his parents were out. He encouraged her to have sex with the other man."

In January 2003 Lewis and one of the men took the girl to Premier Lodge hotel in Edgware, where the three first watched television together before the men took turns to have sex with her while the other waited in the bathroom.

Describing one of the alleged encounters, the girl said: "I did not really want to. He kept pushing and finally I said OK. I agreed because I did not want to ruin what I had with Marc. I thought if I did what he wanted it would not ruin anything."

She eventually told her grandmother and the police were informed.

Crinnion said: "This case is about an inappropriate and unlawful relationship this defendant had with one of his pupils between November 2002 and March 2003."

Lewis, of Farm Road, Edgware, has admitted two charges of having unlawful sex with the girl, who is now 17.

But he pleaded not guilty to aiding and abetting the two men to have unlawful sex with a 15- year-old girl on or before March 31 2003.

An award-winning tennis coach who seduced a 15-year-old protege and encouraged her to have sex with two of his friends was jailed for a "richly deserved" four and a half years yesterday.

Marc Lewis, 26, was also banned from working with children and ordered on to the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

The Lawn Tennis Association, which in 1999 gave Lewis its young coach of the year award, has cancelled his registration and begun its own investigation.

Police fear that Lewis, who earlier this year was cleared at the Old Bailey of raping another 15-year-old, may have preyed on other girls he met on the tennis circuit.

"If there are any other victims and they need to talk to someone, then please come forward," said Det Insp Lance Spring, of the Child Abuse Investigation Command, as he left court.

Judge Giles Forrester told Lewis: "I have no doubt that you set out to seduce this girl who was under 16 and in your charge. I have no doubt, although you denied it, that you knew her age.

"You exploited the undoubted affection she had for you and you exploited it for your own advantage to have sexual intercourse with her on a number of occasions.

"That is bad enough but you were not content with your own sexual gratification, you decided to share her with two friends.

"You were procuring her for sex with others and that demonstrates how little real affection you had for her and how depraved and perverted your conduct was."

The girl, now 17, had told the court Lewis had paid her compliments. After one tennis session in Dec 2002 he rang her. "He said how much he liked me, how pretty I was and whether I wanted to meet up."

Two days later Lewis rang her during her lunch break and arranged to pick her up from the school bus. Lewis drove her to the tennis club and into a committee room. "He said come and sit with me, I said OK and went over. He sat me on his lap and started to kiss me. Lewis asked her, "Do you want to go for it?" The girl told the court: "I did hesitate for a minute but everything he said made me feel so good, I felt I didn't really want to ruin what I thought we had, so I said yes." He rang her every day and soon afterwards took her again to the tennis club and had sex with her again.

Nina Crinnion, prosecuting, said that on more than one occasion Lewis brought a friend along. The first time they went to a hotel where both men had sex with the girl. On another occasion he took another man to her house and encouraged her to have sex with him.

Lewis, of Edgware, north London, admitted two charges of having sex with the underage girl in early 2003 and was convicted of a third similar charge before Christmas 2002.

He was also convicted of aiding and abetting two men, one called John, the other Johnny, to have sex with the teenager.

The six men and six women who convicted him were not told that in June another jury acquitted him of raping a girl of 15 he met through his coaching.

She said he raped her at his home but he claimed she had made up the allegations.

An award-winning young tennis coach has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for pressuring a schoolgirl into group sex sessions with two of his friends.

Marc Lewis, 26, was arrested last year after the four-month affair ended with his 15-year-old pupil's attempted suicide.

The former Lawn Tennis Association Young Coach of the Year was branded as 'perverted and depraved' by Judge Giles Forrester and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life. He was also banned from ever working with children again.

Lewis of Farm Road, Edgware, Middlesex was found guilty of having unlawful sexual intercourse with the teacher's daughter and aiding and abetting two friends to have sex with her.

He had earlier admitted two charges of having unlawful sex with the girl.

Neena Crinnion prosecuting said: "On more than one occasion the defendant brought along a friend, once in a hotel when both men had sex with her and on another occasion to his home when his parents were out. He encouraged her to have sex with the other man."

But police were unable to charge the other men because they only discovered their identities 12 months after the alleged offences. In unlawful sexual intercourse cases the suspect has to be charged within a year of the offence, but Lewis refused to name either man during police interview.

Lewis, who lost his job after admitting to unlawful sex with girl, conceded his behaviour was "inappropriate and highly unprofessional" but he said that he was convinced she was older.

Judge Forrester said: "I have no doubt you set out to seduce this girl, who was under 16 and in your charge, and you succeeded. I have no doubt too although you denied it that you knew her age."

He added: "You utterly betrayed the trust put in you by the family...You are quite unfit to work with children.'

Outside court, Detective Inspector Lance Spring of Barnet's Child Protection Unit, said there were concerns other victims had not come forward, and asked those with concerns about Lewis's behaviour to contact the unit on 020 8733 5070.

A 26-year-old top tennis coach has been jailed for four-and-a-half years for sex offences against a 15-year-old girl. Marc Lewis seduced the girl in the meeting room of a north London tennis club where she had been sent by her father for coaching.Lewis also asked the teenager to take part in "threesomes", the Old Bailey heard.

She was taken to a hotel where she had sex with one of Lewis's friends and another man was brought to her house to have sex with her while her parents were out.

Lewis, of Farm Road, Edgware, north west London, pleaded guilty to two offences of having sex with an under-age girl and was found guilty of a third similar offence.

He was also found guilty of two offences of aiding and abetting her to have sex with his friends.

Judge Giles Forrester told him the sentence was "richly deserved", describing his conduct as "depraved and perverted".

"You knew her age and you exploited the undoubted affection which she held for you," he said.

Lewis was banned from working with children for life and ordered to be placed on the sex offenders' register.

The Lawn Tennis Association is conducting an investigation into its handling of allegations against a tennis coach jailed for having sex with an underage pupil.

Marc Lewis, of Farm Road, Edgware, was jailed on Friday for four-and-a-half years for arranging threesomes with his friends and the 15-year-old girl. Now the LTA are looking into past allegations against Lewis to see if he should have been prevented from teaching at the Temple Fortune Club in Bridge Lane, Golders Green, at an earlier date.

The victim's father, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: "The LTA had a number of previous complaints about the behaviour of Marc Lewis and in my opinion they failed to act appropriately."

The former Young Coach Of The Year was allowed to continue teaching adults at the club while he faced rape allegations by another student, a charge of which he was acquitted in June. It was only when the most recent allegations came to light that he was dismissed.

"With the benefit of hindsight we can see things differently," said Mike Berg, spokesman for the Temple Fortune Club, where Lewis even had sex with the 15-year-old girl in its committee room. "Marc had a lot of press at his time at the club about the positive way he was coaching juniors and it was difficult to see how such a highly-rated coach could be doing the things that he has now been found guilty of. There is a sense of shock around the club, and a sense of sadness.

"We will be talking about increased security at the club following this. It won't be allowed to happen again."

A spokeswoman for the LTA said: "We are conducting an investigation into the matter with the police and will not comment until we have reached a conclusion."

Lewis, 26, had been asked to give extra tennis lessons to the teenager by her father who had heard of his growing reputation as a top coach. He had sex with her on a number of occasions between December 2002 and March 2003. He also encouraged two friends, known as John and Jonny, to do the same, both at her home, while her parents were out, and at the Premier Lodge hotel in Edgware.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey, Judge Giles Forrester said: "I have no doubt, although you denied it, that you knew her age and you exploited the undoubted affection for you which she held."

As he was led away, the judge said: "That is what lawyers call a long term sentence and you richly deserve it."

Lewis then blew a kiss to his weeping girlfriend in the public gallery and said: 'I love you.' The teenage victim of the crime has suffered intense psychological trauma since the event and was commended for her bravery in taking to the stand.

Detective Inspector Lance Spring said: "For a girl of her age to relive those experiences in the witness box was exceptionally courageous. She has been through a lot in the past 18 months and she is to be commended."

The victim's father agreed: "Lesser characters would have given up but the thing that kept her going was that she would save other girls from a similar ordeal that she had to endure."

Two unidentified men who joined tennis coach Marc Lewis in group sex with an underage pupil are unlikely to face criminal charges.

The men, given the names of John' and Johnny' during the court case at the Old Bailey, had sex with the girl, then 15, at a hotel in Edgware and at her parents' house.

Lewis, who coached at the Temple Fortune Club in Golders Green, was jailed for four-and-a-half years earlier this month for his part in the unlawful sex. However, John' and 'Johnny' are likely to avoid court because of a limit on the amount of time available for police to charge someone with this particular offence.

Lewis, 26, of Farm Road, Edgware, had been asked to give extra tennis lessons to his teenage victim by her father, who had heard of his growing reputation as a top coach. He had sex with her on a number of occasions between December 2002 and March 2003.

The Lawn Tennis Association is currently conducting an investigation into past allegations against Lewis.

A tennis coach jailed last year for having sex with an under-age pupil shook his head in disbelief as he lost an appeal against his four-and-a-half-year sentence.

Looking pale, Marc Lewis, a former tennis coach at Temple Fortune Club, Bridge Lane, Golders Green, hobbled into the dock on crutches and initially failed to reappear at the hearing when it resumed after lunch because of illness.

He was 24 in September last year when he was jailed after admitting a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl whom he coached.

He also accepted that he took part in threesomes in 2003 with his friends and the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of having unlawful sex with the girl in 2003, but denied a third count of having sex with her in 2002 and aiding and abetting two friends to do the same. The jury found him guilty on these charges.

On Tuesday, Lewis, of Farm Road, Edgware, was at the Court of Appeal to challenge his conviction and sentence. After recovering from his illness, he did make it to court in time to hear Lord Justice Rix, sitting with Mr Justice Hughes and Judge Chapman, refuse both appeals.

Family and friends in the public benches were aghast at the decision. Defence barrister Jim Sturman QC had told the court Judge Giles Forrester's summing up in last year's Old Bailey trial had been unbalanced' and put the jury in a position where they were more likely to find Lewis guilty. He also argued the sentence was manifestly excessive'.

Lord Rix acknowledged that, in places, Judge Forrester's summing up had been in danger of weighing too heavily against Lewis, but said: "We think that the judge was dealing in an essentially balanced way.

"It's well recognised the judge is entitled to comment in his summing up in strong terms."

He also said rejected the notion the length of sentence was excessive, adding: "He Judge Forrester was right in his closing remarks to say that young girls of the age of 15, when they go to clubs to play and enjoy sport and play to improve, should be free from the sexual advances of their coaches."

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Survivors ARE Heroes!

The Awareness Center believes ALL survivors of sex crimes should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.

Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.

For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!